Innovative Science Teaching & Learning Activities - The Living world

QEP POLs for secondary cycle 1 relevant to the concept of evolution

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Evolution:
 i. Describes the stages in the evolution of living organisms
 ii. Explains the natural selection process

Help students understand the process of natural selection through an activity using spoons, sporks and forks. Students generally struggle while learning about the concept of natural selection and the activities in this article can help science teachers to teach this concept effectively. This hands-on activity will allow students to bring together their own observations and explanations together about the different characteristic of a species. To read more on this lesson please read:

Burton, S. R., & Dobson, C. (February 01, 2009). Spork & Beans: Addressing Evolutionary Misconceptions. American Biology Teacher, 71(2), 89-91.

Evolution:
 i. Describes the stages in the evolution of living organisms
 ii. Explains the natural selection process

Play the pollination game with your students and teach them about population evolution. Student may have a hard time defining what population evolution is. The students will play different roles in this exercise in order to answer a set of question this article provides you.

Weber, J. J., Vary, L. B., Berg, C. E. S., Ansaldi, B. H., & Franks, S. J. (January 22, 2016). Population Evolution: The Pollination Game. The American Biology Teacher, 78,(2), 149-154.

Evolution:
 i. Describes the stages in the evolution of living organisms
 ii. Explains the natural selection process

Student have a hard time understanding evolution because they cannot see it happening with their own eye due to the fact that evolution happens over a long period of time. Use BoxCar2D, a free online computer application, to conduct an experiment where the students can observe evolution in action. Evolution is usually hard to see because it has to have a large scales and long timelines and this application resolves this problem. The students will learn about the natural selection of virtual cars. To know about the detailed lesson and guiding questions, please read the article below:

Royer, A. M., & Schultheis, E. H. (April 01, 2014). Evolving Better Cars: Teaching Evolution by Natural Selection with a Digital Inquiry Activity. The American Biology Teacher, 76(4), 259-264.

QEP POLs for secondary cycle 1 relevant to the concept of genes and chromosomes

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Genes and chromosomes:
i. Locates chromosomes in the cell
ii. Defines a gene as part of a chromosome
iii. Describes the role of genes (transmission of hereditary characteristics)

Here is a fun way to teach students about chromosomes with the use of colors and socks. Chromosomes are a difficult topic for students to grasp. Students often have a hard time understanding the ploidy of the chromosome. This article illustrates a fun and vibrant way to teach the ploidy when teaching mitosis and meiosis. This would help students visualize the chromosomes during cell division by using colorful pairs of socks. For more information, check out this article:

Chinnici, J. P., Neth, S. Z., & Sherman, L. R. (2006). Using "Chromosomal Socks" to Demonstrate Ploidy in Mitosis and Meiosis. The American Biology Teacher, 68(2), 106-109.

QEP POLs for secondary cycle 1 relevant to the concept of mitosis

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Mitosis:
Describes the functions of mitosis (reproduction, growth, regeneration)

Bring role-playing into your science classroom. Student have a hard time visualizing mitosis, students can use this hands-on experience of role-playing to get them involved in their learning. Student can play different parts of the cells and see what is happening during mitosis. For more information on how to go about initiating this activity, please check out this article:

Wyn, M. A., & Stegink, S. J. (2000). Role-Playing Mitosis. The American Biology Teacher, 62(5), 378-81.

Mitosis:
Describes the functions of mitosis (reproduction, growth, regeneration)

Get creative with the cell cycle and use the combination of art, math and geometry to teach the time spent in phases of the cell cycle.  The students will use paper plates to show the cell cycle in 24 hours. You can spice things up by looking at different types of cells, such as cancer cells. For  the detailed lesson , please read the article below:

Scherer, Y. D. (2014). The Cell Cycle: An Activity using Paper Plates to Represent Time Spent in Phases of the Cell Cycle. The American Biology Teacher, 76(7), 478-479.

QEP POLs for secondary cycle 1 relevant to the concept of osmosis and diffusion

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Osmosis and Diffusion:
Distinguishes between osmosis and diffusion

Student seem to have a hard time distinguishing between osmosis and diffusion. Using concept maps when teaching is a great way to understand the difference between two phenomena. This article demonstrates how you can use concept maps when teaching about osmosis and diffusion. Students come in with many pre-conceptions about diffusion and osmosis, this activity will help students understand the topics better. To find out more on how to integrate concept maps when teaching osmosis and diffusion, please read the article below:

Odom, A. L., & Kelly, P. V. (November 01, 2001). Integrating Concept Mapping and the Learning Cycle To Teach Diffusion and Osmosis Concepts to High School Biology Students. Science Education, 85(6), 615-35.

Osmosis and Diffusion:
Distinguishes between osmosis and diffusion

Bring in new technology into your classroom when teaching about diffusion at a cellular and organ level with OsmoBeaker. This software will allow you to teach diffusion and osmosis with inquiry-based experiments. In addition, student will overcome some of their pre-conceptions/alternative framework after doing this activity. To learn more about the different simulation you can perform with this software, please read:

Meir, E., Perry, J., Stal, D., Maruca, S., & Klopfer, E. (December 07, 2005). How Effective Are Simulated Molecular-Level Experiments for Teaching Diffusion and Osmosis?. Cell Biology Education, 4(3), 235-248.

QEP POLs for secondary cycle 1 relevant to the concept of photosynthesis and respiration

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Photosynthesis and respiration:
Names the inputs and outputs involved in photosynthesis.

Names the inputs and outputs involved in respiration.

Facilitate students in solving the mystery of the pea plant with the guidance of this article which describes an inquiry-based approach to teaching photosynthesis and respiration. This experiment comes with many questions and variations.  Many student have a hard time understanding photosynthesis since it is happening at a cellular level, hence these students’ pre-conceptions/alternative frameworks about this concept tend to persist. These experiments might help addressing students’ alternative frameworks.

O'Connell, D. (2008). An Inquiry-Based Approach to Teaching Photosynthesis & Cellular Respiration. The American Biology Teacher, 70(6), 350-356

QEP POLs for secondary cycle 1 relevant to the concept of ecology

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Ecology: Ecological niche:

Names the characteristics that define an ecological niche (e.g. habitat, diet, daily rhythms) ii. Describes the ecological niche of an animal species

Species: Names the characteristics that define a species (common physical characteristics; natural, viable and fertile reproduction)

Explore the ecology of the death with this lesson that involves using forensic entomology as a teaching tool. Students need solid example in order to learn about ecology, otherwise they will get confused with the many terminologies. This story-based learning strategy will allow students to use their imagination in order to learn about the ecological niche and species. In order to understand the concepts such s ecological succession, the students will investigate the progression of insects that arrive on site of a dead cadaver. To find out more about this lesson, please refer to the article below:

McNeil, J. (March 01, 2010). The Ecology of Death: Forensic Entomology as a Teaching Tool. The American Biology Teacher, 72(3), 153-155.

QEP POLs for secondary cycle 1 relevant to the concept of reproduction

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Reproduction: Asexual and sexual reproduction:
Distinguishes between asexual and sexual reproduction (e.g. sexual reproduction involves gametes)

Reproductive mechanisms in plants:
i. Describes asexual reproductive mechanisms in plants (e.g. cutting, layering)
ii. Describes the sexual reproductive mechanism in plants (flowering plants)

Reproductive mechanisms in animals:
Describes the roles of the male and female in the reproduction of certain types of animals (e.g. birds, fish, mammals)

It may be difficult to start teaching about reproduction since maybe of the student come in with deeply entrenched pre-conceptions/alternative framework about this concept. This article demonstrates an interesting way to initiate the conversation about reproduction. The article comes with a series of questions to elicit the thinking of the students about reproduction and describe various pedagogical strategies in teaching this concept.

Cherif, A. H., & Jedlicka, D. M. (November 01, 2012). Exploring an Alternative Model of Human Reproductive Capability: A Creative Learning Activity. The American Biology Teacher, 74(9), 605-612.

QEP POLs for secondary cycle 1 relevant to the concept of cellular components visible under a microscope

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Cellular components visible under a microscope:

i. Identifies the main cellular components visible under a microscope (cell membrane, cytoplasm, nucleus, vacuoles)

ii. Describes the role of the main cellular components visible under a microscope

Use illustrative models as a technique to teach cellular components. Students often learn the different components (systems) the cell separately and they do not see the cell system as a whole. This activity enables students to see the cell as a whole system. It involves group work and creative activities.  To read more about this lesson, please see the link below.

Cohen, J. I. (October 01, 2014). "A Cellular Encounter": Constructing the Cell as a Whole System Using Illustrative Models. The American Biology Teacher, 76(8), 544-549.